All you Hipstamatic Instagram-addicts that love nothing more than cloaking something digital in an analogue costume need to rally Black DA with me and demand that their Leica i9 iPhone standalone camera case goes into production.
Calling it a “dream project”, Black DA proposes to combine the Leica cameras’s good looks and smart lens with the ease of the iPhone 4, creating a case that the iPhone can slip into easily with a latch door that resembles an old 35mm film camera’s back.
If the Leica i9 camera case went into production, they’re figuring on a $US900 – $US1200 cost, though that’s with a shelf life of around 5-10 years, and not a six months-novelty fest like so many of the iAccessories gift users. Provided Apple doesn’t change the design of future iPhone models too much, naturally.
I do like that Black DA isn’t just wanting to attach a bigger lens to the iPhone 4’s, and calling it a day. Their concept actually shows an independent camera body that doesn’t actually rely on the iPhone 4’s processor, instead using the 30-pin connector to transfer images to the iPhone for easy uploading to the cloud. That means a true optical zoom could be used, along with dedicated aperture and shutter dials.
Really, this is one of the best concepts I’ve clapped eyes on, and seamlessly sidesteps that hole the third-party accessory manufacturers seem to fall into. The only problem I see on Black DA’s horizon is actually getting Leica and Apple to agree to it. [Black DA]